Modified plans could go to the city later this year, development partner says

By Alicia Wallace Camera Business Writer

Posted:
10/14/2013 06:48:12 PM MDT

The Best Western Golden Buff Lodge in Boulder and the development rights to build two hotels on site are in the hands of a developer who was hailed as an "urban hero" for redevelopment and preservation efforts in downtown Denver.

Developer Evan Makovsky's NAI Shames Makovsky recently acquired the Golden Buff, 1725 28th St., from the Boeve family, which has operated the hotel since 1958, said brokers and developers involved in the transaction.

The property purchase came after local developer Scott Pedersen transferred his rights to Shames Makovsky, said Michael-Ryan McCarty, a Gibbons-White Inc. broker who was involved in the original purchase contract between Pedersen and the Boeves, who were represented by broker Clint Folsom, of Folsom & Company Real Estate.

Financial terms for the agreement were not disclosed or immediately available via property records.

In January, the Boulder Planning Board approved plans for the construction of a 184-room, full-service hotel, a 177-room select service hotel and a nearly 40,000-square-foot commercial building on the Golden Buff site. Pedersen, of Boulder-based Pedersen Development Group, reached an agreement with developer Lou Della Cava, who owns the neighboring building that was long-anchored by Eads News and Smoke Shop.

Pedersen signed on Denver-based NAI Shames Makovsky, a full-service commercial real estate firm, as a partner during the spring. Co-founder Evan Makovsky, a 40-year veteran in real estate, has been heralded for his work in downtown Denver, notably the efforts of acquiring a blighted block of buildings from several property owners and preparing the parcel for redevelopment.

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Pedersen told the Daily Camera in the summer that he was weighing some changes -- including flip-flopping the hotels on the property, adding rooms and increasing the capacity of the meeting space and ballroom -- that would require submitting modified plans to the city.

On Monday, Pedersen said that having two entities involved in the decision-making process and the operation created some difficulty in the project moving forward.

"Handing the project to them, effectively selling our development rights and the purchase contract turned out to be a good solution for both of us," Pedersen said.

Officials for NAI Shames Makovsky, which has a lengthy history of commercial and hospitality developments, could not be reached for comment.

City spokesman Mike Banuelos confirmed that conversations have taken place recently between city planning staff members and representatives of the 1725 28th St. redevelopment. As of Monday, no formal resubmittal of the development application had been made, he said.

Co-developer Della Cava, who is responsible for the commercial building arm of the development, said that if a modified application is submitted to the city in the coming weeks, the new plans could be up for city approval in February or March.

Della Cava declined to speak to the plans for the hotel portion of the development and deferred comment to Evan Makovsky.

Separately, The Buff Restaurant, an independently owned restaurant based on the site of the Golden Buff Lodge, has started construction work across the street at 2600 Canyon Blvd., a building formerly occupied by The Original Pancake House and Black-eyed Pea.

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